


"Are you okay?"

by fakevermeer



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst and Porn, Blow Jobs, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Manuel might be captain but Joshua bosses him around, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-16
Updated: 2016-07-16
Packaged: 2018-07-24 10:40:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7505068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fakevermeer/pseuds/fakevermeer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>UEFA Euros 2016. Germany is kicked out by France. Joshua is beating himself up about it. So is Manuel. This stupidly angsty situation is resolved by the two of them having lots of sex.</p>
<p>If you're here in search of intelligently written, plot-heavy prose, I would advise you to not read this. However, if you wanna read something smutty that's sort of based in some kind of contextual universe: click away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	"Are you okay?"

**Author's Note:**

> So the Euros sure made for a lot of fic inspiration. I mainly started writing this to deal with the disappointment after Germany got kicked out by France, but it quickly turned into something a lot smuttier because surprise, that's how my brain works. 
> 
> Big thanks to two wonderful ladies who always reply with the biggest enthusiasm to any snippets I might throw at them. Love you!
> 
> Oh, and I owe most of my inspiration to [this particular gif set](http://ldlwlgpl.tumblr.com/post/146890892071). Just to, you know, get you in the mood a lil' bit there.
> 
> *Griezmann voice* Enjoooooooy!

Joshua stomped into the locker room, ignoring the sympathetic pats on the back and the words of encouragement people threw his way in passing. He knew they meant well, but right now he needed everybody to leave him the fuck alone. He got rid of his shorts, grabbed his shower gel, and made his way to the showers, which were still deliciously quiet. The other guys were still outside, talking to journalists, comforting each other, thanking their supporters – everything Joshua couldn’t even handle thinking about right now. He knew he was being childish, that he should be out there with them, that Löw would probably kill him for disappearing early (‘Disgraceful,’ he would hiss as Joshua would meet Löw’s gaze coolly, and Joshua knew he would be right).

But right now, all he wanted was to take a shower and get rid of the horrible feeling that had settled in his bones after the final whistle had blown. He turned the shower to the hottest setting and hissed as the water hit his skin.

As he tried to wash the disappointment off, he heard the door open multiple times. He heard some of the other guys talk to each other indistinctly, and although it sounded subdued, he also heard someone laugh. He scoffed as he shampooed his hair – how could anyone laugh now, after what they just experienced? Apparently to some of them, this didn’t mean as much as it did to Joshua.

He knew he was young, would most likely have another shot at this in two, four, even six years – he’d lost count of the times people had told him he’d have a glittering career ahead of him. That didn’t matter now, though, did it? They’d lost. They’d let everybody down by losing to France in the semifinals. The semifinals. They’d been so close, and then... He felt hot tears stinging his eyes, and swallowed to get rid of the lump that had formed in his throat. He rinsed the shampoo out, facing the tiled wall with his head down.

He heard someone come in on flip flops and knew it was Manuel. He was the only one who insisted on wearing flip flops into their communal showers, even at Säbener Straβe. Joshua was having a hard time not getting annoyed by the wet flapping sound Manuel’s footwear was making on the damp tiles. Keeping his back to Manuel, he furiously kept rinsing out his short hair, even though he knew the shampoo would be long gone by now.

Manuel turned on his own shower and soon enough the only thing Joshua could hear was the sound of the water pouring down.

“Are you okay?” Manuel asked after a few blissful minutes of silence.

This was what Joshua had been dreading, mostly because he knew he couldn’t lie to Manuel – he’d know in a second. It was almost scary how well Manuel could read Joshua, even back when they’d just met.

“I’m fine,” Joshua muttered, still keeping his back to Manuel.

“You know I know you’re not,” Manuel replied, voice low.

“Then why ask if you already know the answer?”

“Alright, _fine_.”

That took Joshua by surprise. After a match, any match, even the ones they lost, Manuel was without fail the calmest one of the bunch. When all the others would be talking over each other excitedly after a win, or when everybody would be angry with themselves or each other – it was always Manuel in the middle, taking off his shoes serenely. He was the one who’d check up on others after a particularly painful loss, like today, and see how everybody was doing, never once betraying his own emotions. Joshua’d wondered multiple times if the goalkeeper was able to just flip a switch before going on and off a pitch, to be able to lead the squad as passionately as he did as soon as the game kicked off.

For him to snap at Joshua like this, that was different. 

Joshua turned off the flow of water, wrapped the towel around his waist and shuffled out of the showers, into the locker room that had filled up quite a bit since Joshua got there. Some of them looked up and acknowledged him with a sad nod, but most of the guys were caught up in their own misery, taking off their kit slowly, almost trance-like. Joshua couldn’t stand it.

He quickly got dressed and made his way to the bus, which was still completely empty. He claimed a seat all the way in the back, put his earphones on and closed his eyes.

He opened them again when he felt someone sit down next to him. When he saw it was Manuel, he frowned and took off his earphones. The bus had gotten more crowded but nobody was really speaking to each other, everybody lost in the post-game haze.

“Um, hi,” Joshua muttered.

Manuel didn’t look at him.

“I’m sorry. About before. I didn’t mean to snap at you.” 

“That’s… okay.” 

“Okay.” 

Manuel put on his own earphones as the bus started to move, and Joshua stared at him for a few seconds before putting his music back on as well.

They got to the hotel pretty quickly, and Joshua disappeared up to his room as fast as humanly possible, trying his hardest not to talk to anybody along the way. As he closed the door behind him, he dropped his bag, and walked a few steps. Then, he stopped in his tracks, put his hands on his hips and breathed in very deeply.

“Fuck,” he muttered, feeling the stinging in his eyes yet again. “Fuck, fuck, _fuck_.”

He stomped over to the bed, slamming the back of his fist on the wall on the way there. It made for a very satisfying crunching sound - he wasn’t sure if it was his hand or the wall. Maybe both. 

Joshua sat down on the bed and put his head in his hands. He couldn’t believe he’d messed up so bad tonight, of all nights. He’d been nervous all tournament, like something was about to happen, something horrible - and then everything had been going _brilliantly_. From the second he’d been put on he knew he’d played well. Until tonight. The one moment he shouldn’t’ve made any mistakes - and everything had gone horribly wrong.

“Fuck,” he whispered again, letting himself fall backwards onto the bed. He crawled up and curled against the pillows, trying not to give in to the immense desire to start crying uncontrollably. His entire body felt heavy, like his legs were weighing him down. He suddenly realised how exhausted he was, and he drifted off to sleep without taking off his shoes.

 

*

 

The knock was short and soft, but it still woke Joshua up. He felt disoriented for a few long seconds, looking around blearily. Where was he? What time was it? He found the alarm clock - he’d only been asleep for fifteen minutes or so. Someone had just knocked on the door to his hotel room, the French hotel room where he’d come after the game against France and - ah. The game. Against France. For half a minute the sinking feeling in his stomach had been blessedly absent, but now it had returned in full force.

He sighed and got up, not even wondering who it could be. As he opened the door and saw Manuel standing there, staring at him stoically, Joshua sighed and walked back into the hotel room, leaving the door open for Manuel.

“You already apologised on the bus,” Joshua muttered, sitting back down on the bed. 

Manuel closed the door behind himself and stayed there for a minute.

“I know.”

“So why are you here?” Joshua knew he was being an asshole but he just couldn’t muster up the emotional strength to be nice to anybody anymore today, not even Manuel. 

“I… I made a mistake.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about."

“Tonight. I made a mistake. On the pitch. That’s why we lost.” Joshua frowned, but before he could say anything, Manuel continued, pacing up and down the hotel room now, avoiding Joshua’s gaze. “I came out of the goal too early. I should’ve grabbed the ball earlier. They scored a goal because I made a mistake. Me.” 

Manuel sat down next to Joshua on the bed and Joshua looked at him.

“Are you listening to me?” Manuel asked earnestly. “I made a mistake. Not you, _me_.”

Joshua finally began to realise why Manuel was here, why Manuel had snapped at him earlier - he blamed their loss on himself, just as Joshua had blamed them losing on his own mistake. He sniggered softly, and Manuel flinched a little. Joshua couldn’t help himself and started full on giggling until he was laughing out loud, tears forming in his eyes.

“Are you… okay?” Manuel asked, looking amused but also a little shocked.

“I’m fine,” Joshua breathed, as the tears started rolling down his cheeks, and at that moment in time he wasn’t sure if they were tears of laughter or if he was actually crying now.

It must’ve been that last one, because suddenly he felt strong arms around his shoulders and a face being pressed into his neck. 

“Hey,” Manuel muttered into his ear, stroking his hair. “Hey, alright, it’s okay.” 

Joshua clung on for dear life and buried his face into Manuel’s shoulder as he tried to calm himself down. Manuel rubbing wide circles in between his shoulder blades helped. After a few minutes, Joshua felt his breathing go back to normal. He pushed Manuel away softly so he could look him in the eye. Manuel was looking at him with some concern, but not with pity, something Joshua had been afraid of - if there was anything he couldn’t stand it was people pitying him.

“Thank you,” he mumbled hoarsely.

Manuel smiled a little. “Don’t worry about it. Happens to the best of us.”

Joshua scoffed. “It doesn’t, though, does it? I made a horrible mistake tonight.”

“So did I.”

“But -“ 

“No. Joshua, these things happen. They suck, and we have to learn to live with them, but they happen. Now, everybody who has been watching this tournament even a _little_ will remember you by your brilliance, not by a single mistake.”

“A mistake that made sure we didn’t reach the final.”

Manuel took Joshua’s face in his hands and looked at him intently. “Listen to me. Let’s agree on something. We both made a mistake tonight. We misjudged a situation. It happens. We’re under a lot of pressure and we need to make spur-of-the-moment decisions. That doesn’t always go well. It will happen again. It sucks. But that’s football. Agreed?”

Joshua nodded. He realised that these kinds of things were what made Manuel such a good captain. 

“Good. Now, let’s both stop feeling sorry for ourselves, and start feeling proud of the fact that we even reached the semifinal.” Manuel smiled at him and his grip on Joshua’s face turned into more of a caress. “You played so well.” His voice got soft, too.

Joshua felt like he should look away but he didn’t think he could. Manuel’s face was very close and Joshua knew it would only take a split second to bridge the distance between their mouths. It wasn’t like he’d never considered doing something like this before, and it wasn’t like Manuel had never hinted that he wouldn’t push him away if he ever gathered up enough courage to actually go through with it, but - maybe not tonight. It was a strange night, following a strange day.

Then again, Joshua thought, if not now, then when?

Covering Manuel’s hands with his own, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Manuel’s softly, almost reverently. For a few seconds everything was perfectly still - and just when Joshua was starting to seriously worry if he’d maybe misjudged the entire situation, Manuel pulled him tighter and moved his lips against Joshua’s. 

Joshua climbed into Manuel’s lap and panted softly against his mouth before licking his bottom lip, drawing a sound out of the goalkeeper that Joshua wanted to record on his phone so he could listen to it over and over again.

Manuel’s tongue darted out and Joshua gasped softly as their mouths started moving together sloppily. When Joshua bit Manuel’s bottom lip - not too hard, just hard enough -, Manuel’s hips bucked up seemingly involuntarily, and Joshua groaned when he felt Manuel was already hard. Not that he was much better off, himself. He pushed his own hips down to make sure Manuel knew that. As he pressed their erections together, even through the fabric of their shorts, both men groaned loudly.

“God,” Manuel breathed, drawing back for a few seconds to catch his breath, “you have no idea how long I wanted you to do that.” 

Joshua grinned at Manuel, feeling high on endorphins and a little dizzy from the insane emotional rollercoaster the past few hours had been. “I think I have a pretty good idea.” 

Manuel reached around and hitched Joshua up by his ass, positioning him better on Manuel’s lap. If Joshua hadn’t been hard already, having Manuel pick him up as easily as he’d just done would’ve sealed the deal. 

“So,” Manuel said softly, face inches away from Joshua, making him go cross-eyed a little bit.

“So?” 

“Um. Are you… okay with this?”

“With what?”

“You know, _this_. Us. Doing this. Together.”

“And what are we doing, exactly?”

Manuel stared at him. “Well, if things go the way I’d like them to go - you’re teasing me, aren’t you.”

Joshua grinned. “You’re so gullible. You’d think with all the extra years of experience…”

“Not funny.”

“It’s a little funny.”

“Nope. In fact, if you’re just going to laugh at me, I think I’ll just go and take a shower and jerk off by myself.”

Manuel pretend to push Joshua off of him, but Joshua wrapped his arms around Manuel’s neck as tight as possible. Manuel sniggered into Joshua’s shoulder.

“No-o-o, don’t waste a perfectly good erection,” Joshua whined as he held on even tighter. He brought his mouth to Manuel’s ear. “Actually, you know what you should do?” he whispered, making sure to lick Manuel’s earlobe as he spoke, making him shudder.

“What?” Manuel breathed.

“I think you should take off your clothes, lie back on the bed, and stay there while I have my way with you.”

Manuel shivered and Joshua unwrapped himself from around the taller man, stepping up off the bed. He started taking off his own clothes but when he looked up, Manuel hadn’t moved an inch. He just sat there, staring at Joshua, his mouth hanging open slightly.

“Manu?” Joshua asked, his shorts halfway down his legs. “You okay there?” 

Manuel jumped a little and nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Just… distracted. Good view, you know.”

He grinned at Joshua, who couldn’t ignore the swooping feeling in his stomach.

“Just take off your clothes already,” he said, trying his best not to smile too wide. 

Manuel did as he was told and soon enough both men were naked, standing in front of each other, clothes strewn across the bed and the floor. Joshua stared up at Manuel who was significantly taller than him, then took a step forward to eliminate the distance between them. They weren’t touching yet, but they were breathing the same air and Joshua thought he could feel the hairs on his forearms touching Manuel’s. 

“Get on your knees,” Joshua said softly.

Without hesitating for a second, Manuel sank down, not breaking eye contact. He brought up his hands and rested them high on Joshua’s thighs.

“Can I…?” he asked hoarsely.

“Yes,” Joshua breathed.

Manuel took Joshua’s swollen cock in his hand, getting a steady grip at the base of it, making Joshua gasp. Clear beads of precome were already trickling down and he was doing his best not to buck up into Manuel’s hand. 

With one hand at the base of Joshua’s cock and the other snaking around to grab onto his ass, Manuel leaned in and softly licked at the slit. Then, he took the head of Joshua’s cock in his mouth and started moving up and down, his mouth and his hand moving in synch. 

Joshua’s head fell back and he suddenly regretted his decision to stand in the middle of the room. He’d do anything to be able to lean back against a wall now.

“Oh God,” he whispered, shutting his eyes for a second before realising he needed to see this, see Manuel do this to him. He forced himself to open them again and look. The visuals were exquisite - Manuel’s head bobbing up and down, cheeks hollowing as he sucked, taking Joshua into his mouth a little further each time.

Joshua buried a hand in Manuel’s short, thick hair and as his nails grazed Manuel’s scalp, he could feel the goalkeeper moan around him, almost making his knees buckle with the vibrating sensation.

“Fuck,” he hissed, bringing his other hand down too, purely to stabilise himself.

Manuel drew back and looked up, concern in his eyes.

“Are you okay?” 

Joshua grinned at him. “I think my body can’t deal with you… doing what you’re doing. At least, not while we’re standing up. Wasn’t my brightest idea.”

Manuel got up, his face inches away from Joshua’s.

“It was hot though. Ordering me to kneel, and all that,” he whispered, circling his arms around Joshua and lifting him up effortlessly, pressing their cocks together in between their bodies. Joshua couldn’t help but moan softly at the sensation as Manuel carried him away from the bed. He frowned.

“What’re you doing?” he managed to groan. “Bed’s the other way.”

“I know.”

Joshua felt something pleasantly cool and even press against his back, and he realised Manuel was pressing him up against the wall. 

Manuel’s right arm was wrapped around Joshua’s waist tightly, and Joshua gasped when he felt Manuel’s left hand between his legs.

“A-are you holding me up with – with one arm?” he breathed as Manuel slowly moved his hand up and down Joshua’s cock, hand sliding easily, slicked up with precome.

“Yeah,” Manuel said, and Joshua could hear the smug grin on his face.

“Over – oh, _fuck_ – over-achiever.”

“You love it.”

“God, yes.”

Joshua whined as he felt Manuel’s slicked-up hand leave his cock. He didn’t have to do without Manuel’s touch for long, though, as he felt a finger pressing on his perineum a few seconds later, making his hips stutter and his dick twitch.

“ _Fuck_ , Manu.”

“Good?”

“More.”

“Are you sure?” Manuel whispered, breath coming in short little bursts.

“Yeah. O-open me up. Now.”

“Your wish is my command,” Manuel said, voice low with desire. His fingers rubbed down Joshua’s perineum in little circles, until he reached the tight ring of muscle. He kept circling his fingers, making Joshua moan softly, until he decided to press one finger inside carefully.

Joshua groaned loudly. “Yeah. Oh, shit – _yes_ ,” he hissed, as Manuel started to push his finger inside, building up a slow but steady rhythm. “Manu – another. Come on.”

Joshua tried to lower his hips onto Manuel’s finger, to help him reach deeper inside, to make the angle even better. Manuel got the hint, repositioned himself by bending his knees a little bit and tightening his grip on Joshua’s waist. Joshua brought his legs up higher around Manuel’s hips, feeling their cocks rub together while they moved. Manuel carefully added a second finger, and Joshua groaned with the delicious burn of it.

Joshua could hear Manuel’s breathing getting heavier and wondered if maybe they should move to the bed – this couldn’t be good for Manuel’s arms, strong as they might be. Then, any form of rational thought disappeared from his mind as Manuel started scissoring his fingers inside of him.

“Oh my God,” he moaned, breath hitching. “Oh, _God_ , Manu…”

“You feel so amazing,” Manuel murmured in his ear, licking and biting at his neck softly as he moved his fingers, opening Joshua up thoroughly. “So hot, so hot, fuck…”

Joshua started moving his hips in earnest now, keeping up with Manuel’s pace, fucking himself on Manuel’s fingers. Soon enough, two fingers weren’t enough anymore, either.

“Fuck me,” he whispered into Manuel’s ear.

Manuel groaned at that, grinding their cocks together, making Joshua moan. “Are you sure?” 

“Yes. Yes, oh, fuck, _yes_ ,” Joshua panted into Manuel’s ear. “There’s - there’s condoms and lube in the nightstand.”

“Well-prepared, are we?” Manuel managed to say evenly, lifting Joshua up, both his hands on Joshua’s ass, fingers spread out and gripping tight.

“You never know,” Joshua chuckled, clinging onto Manuel and letting himself get carried to the bed.

As soon as Manuel put him on the bed, he scrambled to get to the night stand. He opened the drawer and pulled out a bottle of lube and some condoms. Impatiently, he opened the lube, slicked up three of his own fingers and laid back on the bed. He started to finger himself, fast, dirty, as Manuel opened one of the condom packages and slowly rolled it down onto his own cock.

“Come on, hurry up,” Joshua panted.

Manuel chuckled and threw away the empty package. He crawled on top of Joshua and gently took the hand he was using to finger himself in his own and brought it up, above Joshua’s head.

“My turn,” Manuel growled. He grabbed on to the backs of Joshua’s knees and gently put them on his shoulders as he pushed forward a little bit. “You okay?” 

Joshua nodded, bringing his other hand up as well to grab on to the headboard. Manuel lined himself up, then looked up at Joshua.

“You’re breathtaking,” he murmured, before pushing in, slowly but steadily, until he filled Joshua up. Joshua couldn’t keep himself from letting out a long groan as he felt Manuel’s cock move inside him.

“Oh my God,” Manuel breathed as he leaned forward, kissing Joshua’s throat. “You feel so good. Oh, Joshua, _fuck_ , I’m not gonna be - able to last long.” 

“In that - _oh_ \- in that case, you better start moving, _fast_ ,” Joshua grunted, using the leverage the headboard gave him to push his hips down forcefully.

“Oh, _God_. Are you - are you sure you’re good yet?” Manuel managed to groan, slowly rocking his hips back and forth.

Joshua brought his hands down from the headboard and gripped Manuel’s shoulders tightly, making the taller man look up at him.

“Manuel Peter Neuer, you better start fucking me properly right now, or I’m gonna go ahead and do it myself.” 

Manuel chuckled softly. “Interesting though as that sounds, I - _fuck._ “

Joshua had pulled himself up and pushed himself down onto Manuel’s cock again, effectively shutting him up. Joshua set the rhythm, fast, feverish, smashing his hips down on Manuel again and again. Manuel grabbed on to Joshua’s hips and followed his rhythm, actually pushing Joshua up the bed with the force of it.

Joshua’s neglected cock was lying heavy against his stomach, throbbing almost painfully. He took one hand off the headboard to wrap it around his cock, steadying himself with the other, and started stroking himself to the rhythm of Manu’s hips slamming into him.

“Fuck, yes, Manu, oh,” Joshua whined, his voice getting higher the closer he got. Manuel grunted above him with every forceful thrust of his hips. “I’m gonna come, I’m gonna come -“

His orgasm hit him so hard he actually saw stars for a few seconds. He always thought that was a myth, but there he was, on his back, with Manuel’s cock buried to the hilt in his ass, and he was seeing stars. He couldn’t keep a slightly deranged giggle from escaping from his mouth, before going back to moaning and panting his way through his climax.

“Oh my God,” he breathed, slowly coming down from his high. “Oh. My. God. That was so good, you’re so good, Manu, _fuck_ …” 

Manuel was still fucking him but he’d slowed down a little bit. Joshua couldn’t help but hiss a little bit, feeling extremely sensitive all over now.

“Do you need me to stop?” Manuel asked, sweat dripping down his forehead.

Joshua stretched himself out in front of Manuel. “I need you to come up here so I can suck you off.” 

Manuel carefully pulled out, and Joshua tried to ignore the empty feeling he left behind. Manuel took off the condom and tossed it into the bin in the corner of the room. He scooted up, his knees on either side of Joshua’s lithe body, and positioned himself over Joshua’s face.

Joshua took Manuel’s cock in his mouth and licked across the slit once before taking him as far as he could and sucking hard.

“ _Shit_ , Joshua.” 

Joshua followed a vein along Manuel’s cock with his tongue, making the goalkeeper shudder above him, then he hollowed his cheeks and sucked again. Alternating between licking and sucking, he could feel Manuel was close to losing it - he couldn’t stop shaking and his breathing was erratic and shallow.

“Josh- Joshua, I’m gon- I’m so close, so close,” he breathed, and he pulled softly on Joshua’s short hair to give him time to move away if he wanted to.

Joshua didn’t want to do anything like that at all. He kept sucking insistently, until he felt Manuel’s cock twitch and throb, and hot liquid spurted into his mouth.

“Oh _God_ ,” Manuel groaned, keeping himself from toppling over by holding himself steady on the headboard. “Oh my God.” 

Joshua swallowed, then swallowed some more, until Manuel was done and he’d licked his cock clean. Manuel shuddered and let himself fall onto the mattress next to Joshua, who licked his lips and then moved in for a kiss.

“Or are you squeamish about that sort of thing?” he asked innocently, his face inches away from Manuel’s.

Manuel leaned in and pushed his lips against Joshua’s, letting their tongues slide together. When Joshua pulled back, he grinned at Manuel.

“Guess that answers _that_ question.” 

He snuggled up against Manuel, fitting nicely in the curve of Manuel’s bigger body. They were quiet for a few minutes as their breathing went back to normal.

“Still think you made a mistake?” Manuel asked softly, tracing a drop of sweat down Joshua’s throat and into the dip on top of his clavicle with his finger. 

“Yes.” Joshua breathed out slowly, then turned his head to look at Manuel. “But if me making that mistake lead to this, I think I’ll be able to forgive myself in time.” 

Manuel chuckled and pressed a kiss to Joshua’s temple. “Good. Forgiving yourself is good.” A short pause. “You letting me fuck you was also good.” 

Joshua snorted. “It wasn’t bad, no.” He grinned up at Manuel, then snuggled closer into the goalkeeper’s side. “Contrary to today’s game, _that’_ s something I’d like to repeat some time.” 

“Me too. Hey,” Manuel mumbled, giving in to the post-sex drowsiness.

“Mmm?” 

“Are you okay?” 

Joshua smiled a little. Manuel had asked that question at least ten times today. Joshua was surprised it didn’t annoy him. On the contrary, it made him feel safe. It made him feel like here was someone who _cared_. 

He took Manuel’s hand and brought it up to his mouth to press a soft kiss to it.

“Yes. I am definitely okay.” 


End file.
